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St. Joseph High School football coach Paul Sacco, right, talks
to his team after drills at practice Friday in Hammonton. The
Wildcats were preparing for today’s game against Hammonton, the
50th meeting between the neighborhood rivals. Below, the Wildcats’
field is marked to recognize the milestone.

St. Joe players run through drills. The St Joseph of Hammonton
High School football team was busy practicing in preparation for
Saturday's game against crosstown rival Hammonton. This year marks
the 50th time the teams have met on the gridiron. Friday Nov 25,
2011. (Dale Gerhard/Press of Atlantic City)

St. Joseph High School football players are seemingly on the
move in every direction as they run through drills at practice
Friday in Hammonton. The Wildcats play Hammonton for the 50th time
today and next week will face St. Mary, of Rutherford, for the
state Non-Public A championship. St. Joseph is undefeated and
ranked No. 1 in The Press Elite 11.

spotlight

Ready or rusty? St. Joseph eager to get the answer today vs. rival Hammonton

Wildcats, off for 22 days, host Blue Devils today

St. Joseph High School football coach Paul Sacco, right, talks
to his team after drills at practice Friday in Hammonton. The
Wildcats were preparing for today’s game against Hammonton, the
50th meeting between the neighborhood rivals. Below, the Wildcats’
field is marked to recognize the milestone.

St. Joe players run through drills. The St Joseph of Hammonton
High School football team was busy practicing in preparation for
Saturday's game against crosstown rival Hammonton. This year marks
the 50th time the teams have met on the gridiron. Friday Nov 25,
2011. (Dale Gerhard/Press of Atlantic City)

St. Joseph High School football players are seemingly on the
move in every direction as they run through drills at practice
Friday in Hammonton. The Wildcats play Hammonton for the 50th time
today and next week will face St. Mary, of Rutherford, for the
state Non-Public A championship. St. Joseph is undefeated and
ranked No. 1 in The Press Elite 11.

The St. Joseph High School football team lifted weights and
practiced the past 21 days.

When they were done, the Wildcats lifted more weights and
practiced even more.

St. Joe will play for the first time since Nov. 4 when it hosts
neighborhood rival Hammonton in a highly anticipated contest at
noon today.

St. Joe (8-0) is No. 1 in The Press Elite 11. Hammonton (9-1) is
No. 7.

St. Joe is in the midst of one of the most dominant seasons ever
by a local team. The Wildcats have outscored their opponents
391-16. Now, the question is has the three-week layoff caused them
to lose their edge?

"I wish I could answer that," St. Joe coach Paul Sacco said. "I
wish I knew. I wish I could know that after not playing for 21 days
we're going to come out there and be crisp and everything we'll be
fine. You never know because they're kids."

Today's game is the 50th between Hammonton and St. Joe.
Hammonton leads the series 26-22-1. To celebrate the 50th meeting,
past coaches from both schools will attend today's game, as will
members of the 1962 Hammonton and St. Joe teams that played in the
first contest between the schools.

The schools, located a few miles from each other, boast programs
that are among the state's best. Today's game is a matchup of
champions. Hammonton is the Cape-Atlantic League National Division
champion, while St. Joe won the CAL United Division.

Both teams will play for titles next Saturday. Hammonton will
meet Timber Creek for the South Jersey Group III title at 4 p.m. at
Rowan University, while St. Joe will face St. Mary Rutherford for
the state Non-Public I title at 1 p.m. at The College of New Jersey
in Ewing Township (Mercer County).

"It's big game anytime you get to meet up with a cross-town
rival," St. Joe defensive Kaiwan Lewis said of today's game. "This
is our chance to show people we can play with big schools."

St. Joe has been off since it beat Egg Harbor Township 37-0 on
Nov. 4 because only three teams qualified for the playoffs in state
Non-Public I. Schools must have a .500 or better mark to make the
postseason and only three teams in the 10-team group achieved that
mark. The Wildcats - as the top seed - got a bye right to the Dec.
3 final.

"We would have loved to have had two playoff games," Sacco said.
"We thought we'd get at least one playoff game. We can't worry
about that now."

St. Joe treated the break like the preseason. The Wildcats began
this past Sunday to prepare for Hammonton. "We got back to the
basics," Lewis said. "It (the break) was good for getting guys
healthy, but then it kind of wore off. Everybody's ready to
play."

Meanwhile, Hammonton is in the mode of playing big games. The
Blue Devils beat Kingsway Regional 24-10 in the South Jersey Group
III quarterfinals on Nov. 11 and then beat Moorestown 33-21 in the
Nov. 18 semifinals.

"They're in that rhythm," Sacco said of Hammonton. "Once you get
in that, it becomes second habit. You're ready to play. But you're
not going to hear me come in there and say we didn't tackle because
we didn't play in three weeks. Whatever is going to be is going to
be."

Nearly every team that reaches a state or South Jersey final
plays 12 games. St. Joe will play just 10 games this season. That
makes every contest even more special for the Wildcats.

"There's no margin for error," Sacco said. "This is it. I always
tell kids you never know when it's your last play or last game.
When it's time to play, you can't come off the field and say we
didn't play well. We don't have that many opportunities."